


Estate

by IsolaVirtuosa



Series: Chances [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Asexual Sasuke, Divorced Naruto, How to Not Parent, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 11:28:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13926207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsolaVirtuosa/pseuds/IsolaVirtuosa
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke aren't very good parents.





	Estate

            Sasuke sat on the dock, his pants rolled up so he could dangle his legs in the water.  He wasn’t wearing a shirt, which made me wonder how the hell he never ended up looking like a lobster with all that pale skin taunting the sun with its pastiness.

            “Stop ogling my teacher,” Boruto complained, dunking me in the water.

            “I wasn’t ogling him!” I complained, sputtering water as I came up for air.  That was, of course, an obvious lie.  He was damn sexy.

            Boruto let out a huff and swam off towards Sasuke.

            _Sasuke_ , who had decided the sun was a little too bright and had slid on a pair of sunglasses.  He looked like a freaking one-armed fashion model.

            Boruto reached the dock, leaning his arms on it while he kicked his feet lazily in the water, talking animatedly.  They both smiled, Boruto wide and bright and Sasuke small and secretive.

            I let them be, swimming laps around the lake until my arms ached.  I doggy paddled over to the dock when I got lonely.  “Come swim with us,” I requested, tugging on Sasuke’s hand.

            “I didn’t bring swimming trunks,” he said, but let me pull him off the dock.  He stepped onto the water, walking on the surface.

            “Let’s race!” I said, taking off.

            Of course Sasuke Uchiha, the world’s biggest cheater, just leaped his way to the other side of the lake in a single bound.  “So what do I get for winning this race?” he called.

            I sputtered and pointed at him accusingly.

            He did a goddamn hair flip and smirked at me over the tops of his sunglasses.

            “Dad, you’re so uncool,” Boruto informed me.

            “How can you say that?!” I cried.  “I am so cool!  So, so very cool!”

            “Cool people don’t need to say that they’re cool,” he pointed out.

            “Then how will you know that they’re cool?!”

            “You just look at them,” he said, staring pointedly in Sasuke’s direction.

            “Sasuke’s not that cool,” I muttered.  “He alphabetizes his socks.  Bet you couldn’t tell that just by looking at him.”

            Boruto stared at me.

            I sighed.  “Fine.  He’s perfection.  Glorious perfection.  How can one man be so attractive?”

            “I wouldn’t know, Dad, I’m not gay,” he said, now staring pointedly at me.

            “Oh, uh, yeah,” I said, avoiding his stare.  “We should go get him and get going, it’s late.”

            “There’s not anything you want to talk to me about?”

            “Whaddya mean?”

            “Nothing, I guess,” he said, anger flickering in his voice.  He swam off towards Sasuke.

            I watched him go, scratching the back of my neck.

            “Naruto, hurry up!” Sasuke called, sounding annoyed.

            Boruto ignored me all the way back to Sasuke’s.  He even refused to stay for dinner.

            “What is his problem?” I muttered, catching Sasuke by the waist and leaning my head on his shoulder while he washed the vegetables under the faucet.

            “Well, let’s think here,” Sasuke said in that mean, sarcastic way of his.  “Have you bothered to tell him that we’re together?”

            “Uh, everyone knows we’re together.”

            “Did you tell everyone?”

            “Who needs to tell anyone anything in this town of gossips?” I grumbled, nudging his neck with my nose.

            “You do.  You need to tell people things.  Especially your own son.”

            “How can he possibly not know?  He practically lives here with us now.”

            “That’s another thing,” Sasuke said, putting his knife down.  “I don’t recall asking you to move in with me.”

            “Okay, but we’ve been living together for six months…”

            He pulled out of my hold and pushed me aside, crouching down to pull a pot out from under the sink.  “You’re the one obsessed with putting everything into words.  Why don’t you ask me properly if you can even live here?”

            “…can I live here?”

            “Hn.”

            “What the hell kind of answer is that?!”

            “The kind you deserve,” Sasuke said, going about his business of cooking.

            “Do you want me to go?” I asked, thinking it was a joke but then suddenly feeling the gravity of the words.  I paused, trying to ignore the tightness in my chest.

            Sasuke glanced at me over his shoulder.  His eyes softened.  “I want you to live with me.”

            I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.  “I wanna live with you, too.”

            “Sell your apartment,” he said.  “Move in here officially.”

            I grinned, catching his face in my hands and stealing a kiss.  Then I danced around the kitchen.

            Sasuke stared at me like I was an idiot.

            I went back in for another kiss.

            He tolerated it, and there was maybe even a hint of a smile in his eyes.  “I’m cooking,” he finally said, pushing me away.

            I couldn’t stop grinning.

            “Set the table or something,” he grumbled at me.

            “Anything for my _roommate_!” I declared enthusiastically.

            Sasuke laughed abruptly at that.  “Was it your lifelong dream to have a roommate?”

            “Yes,” I said defensively.

            He put down his chopsticks and pulled me back to him, kissing my forehead.  “Then I’m so glad to make your dream come true.”

            “I know you’re being sarcastic, but shit,” I said, my face burning.

            Sasuke looked pleased as he went back to cooking.

            Life was going well.

            …was what I thought before I woke up the next morning with a local news reporter beating on the door.

            “Is the hokage in there?!  How long has he been living with you?!  Can you describe the nature of your relationship?!”

            “Naruto,” Sasuke growled, murder in his eyes.  He did not like being woken up in the morning, and he especially did not like strangers banging on his door, asking invasive questions.

            “Just answer the door and pretend I’m not here,” I said, caressing his cheek lovingly.  I got my hand smacked away for the effort.

            “I’m not doing your dirty work!” he snapped.  “If you’re so fucking ashamed of being with me, you can lie to them yourself!”

            “I’m not ashamed of you!” I cried incredulously.

            Sasuke let out a puff of air, his eyes rolling.

            “What is that look supposed to mean?!”

            “You won’t even tell your kids about us.”

            “They know!”

            “They think they know, but they don’t know.”

            “What the hell kind of crazy talk is that?!”

            “Hokage-sama?  Could you speak up for our microphone?” the reporter called through the door.

           “Clean up your damn mess!” Sasuke snapped, rolling back into his futon and pulling the covers over his head.

            I stood in the middle of the room, clueless as to how I should proceed.

            So I opened the door.

            A microphone was thrust into my face and bright lights shone directly into my eyes.

            I blinked long and slow, trying to comprehend what was being shouted at me.

            “Will you be making an announcement about your engagement soon?”

            “Huh?” I said.  “Who’s getting married?”

            “Hokage-sama, you are co-habitating with your rumored lover Uchiha Sasuke-”

            “Lover?!” I snorted.

            The man looked confused.

            I slowly started to realize that I was standing in my underwear in front of a news camera.  “Could we do this another time?  Oh, shit, I’m late!” I said, catching the time on the cameraman’s watch.  “How does this happen every day?!”

            “Because you’re a moron,” Sasuke growled from under his covers.

            “Being a moron has nothing to do with being late!”

            “But Hokage-sama-” the reporter tried to interject.

            “I have to go,” I said, reaching to close the door.  “Village to protect and all.”

            “If you could just explain why you are living here,” the man said, stopping the door with his hip and bravely continuing to shove his mic in my face.

            “Because I love Sasuke and we’re roommates,” I said, pulling the door shut and making a dash for the shower.  I was in and out within a couple of minutes.

            Sasuke was up, still huddled in a blanket.

            He looked cute, so I paused in my morning rush to give his cheek a quick smooch.

            “You really fucked things up now,” he said, though he didn’t seem angry.

            “What?!” I cried, hopping around trying to get my other leg into my pants.  “How?!”

            “You haven’t even told your family, but you just came out on national television,” he said, pulling my robe off of the back of the closet and holding it open so I could slide my arms in.

            “I didn’t… I didn’t…” I trailed off.  “Oh, crap, did I?!”

            “Well, it wasn’t all that clear, but I think you did.”

            “Omigod, Sasuke… Boruto’s gonna hate me.  Even MORE.  And Hinata…  Oh, god.  Sasuke.  Did I really come out?”

            Sasuke frowned at me.

            I vaguely recalled him yelling at me about me being ashamed of him.  “I’m going to talk to my kids.  Then Sakura and Sara.  Then I will tell the world.  I will sing it from the rooftops.”

            “No one wants to hear your singing.”

            “You love when I sing for you,” I protested as he shoved me towards the door.

            “No, I love _you_ ,” he said, opening the door.  “Those are two completely separate issues.”

            “I’m gonna sing for you tonight,” I said, squeezing his hand and turning to leave, only to realize that the camera crew was still there and filming.  “Don’t you guys have anything better to do?!”

            They shrugged.

            “Go to work, Hokage-sama,” Sasuke said, slamming the door behind me.

            I looked at the camera crew.  I looked at the closed the door.  I looked back at the camera crew.  I gave them a wave and set off for the office.

            “What.  Is.  Wrong.  With.  You,” Shikamaru greeted me.

            “Do I smell?” I asked, raising my arm and giving it the sniff test.  I had kind of rushed through my morning routine.

            “Are you really sleeping with Uchiha?” he asked, putting his hands on my desk and looming over me.

            “Of course not,” I said.  “Sasuke hates sex.”

            “Then what…?”

            “I thought you knew.”

            “I know that you’ve been in love with him since we were kids.  I didn’t know that it was romantic,” he said, sliding into the seat across from my desk and dropping his head in his hands with a weary sigh.

            “I guess I didn’t either until recently.”

            “You made it rather obvious now that I think about it.  You two put each other first even over your own kids.”

            “That’s not… true…” I protested lamely.

            Shikamaru stared at me.

            “Is there anything I haven’t completely failed at?” I groaned, flopping over my desk.  “Shitty dad, shitty husband, shitty hokage.”

          “Well,” Shikamaru said, and after an uncomfortably long pause he continued, “You’re good at eating ramen.”

            I felt like all the life had left my body, leaving me a broken and empty shell.

            “Naruto, we need to get ahead of this,” he said.  “From what I’ve observed so far, the reaction to the broadcast was negative.  The people are confused.”

            “They don’t want a homo hokage,” I muttered.

            “No, they don’t,” he agreed.  “But they’re also confused as to whether you even are a homo hokage.  We need to direct the narrative.”

            “What, am I supposed to go out there and lie?”

            “No, I think we should start with what you and Sasuke actually are?”

            “I dunno, we’re roommates.”

            “Roommates… who are not having sex… but are in a romantic relationship?” Shikamaru ventured, his brow creased in confusion.

            “Yeah, that about sums it up,” I agreed.

            “How am I supposed to work with that?” he muttered.

            “So you do want me to lie.”

            “A little creative truth telling could go a long way.”

            We talked and we talked, with no obvious way forward presenting itself, and then it was time for me to start giving out missions.  I was getting into the groove of my work, doling out missions with expert ease, when who should come in but Himawari and her team.

            I had kind of forgotten about her.

            My daughter was furious.  She wouldn’t even look at me.

            “Hima, can you stay for a minute?” I said after giving the team their mission.

            “We have a mission,” she said through gritted teeth.

            “It’ll be quick.”

            She stayed, still not looking at me.

            “Iruka-sensei…?” I said, and he just nodded, going out of the room and closing the door behind him.

            “Was there something you wanted to say to me, _Hokage-sama_?” Himawari asked after a long pause.  The icy tone in her voice was something I had never heard directed at me.

            I swallowed.  I shifted.  I rubbed the back of my neck.

            “If there’s nothing, then I’ll be going,” she said, abruptly turning to leave.

            “Himawari!” I said, jumping to my feet.

            She turned back to me, hopeful yet hurting all at once.

            “You watched the news this morning…”

            “I didn’t have to watch it!  Every person I know was messaging me this morning to ask me if I knew my dad was gay!”

            “I’m not… it’s complicated.”

            “I knew you and Uncle Sasuke were close but… but…  How could you not tell me?!”

            I tried to think of a reason, but nothing came to me.

            Himawari shook her head and left.

            Sasuke suddenly appeared next to me.  “Take the day off,” he said, tucking my head under his chin and holding me.

            “I can’t, I mean we’re giving out the missions and Iruka-sensei is waiting, and then Shikamaru and I have to have a meeting about the summit next month and we have to prepare the do-”

            “Iruka-sensei is a seasoned professional, and I’m sure Shikamaru can get more done on his own without having to carry your dead weight.”

            “I know you’re trying to be comforting, but you’re supposed say things that are actually nice to the person you’re trying to comfort.”

            “…why?”

            I smiled into his chest.  “To make them feel better, asshole.”

            “And yet you seem to feel a lot better when I do it my way.”

            “God help me, I do.”

            “Come on.”

            “But I’ve got to-”

            “I already talked to Shikamaru.”

            “Damn, babe, you’re efficient.”

            “Obviously.”

            “So where are we going?” I asked as he led me to the window.

            “To see Hinata.”

            I gaped at him.

            “You look dumb,” he informed me, dragging me into the air.

            I probably would have plunged straight to my death if he didn’t have such a strong grip on my arm.  “What the hell do you mean, we’re going to see Hinata?”

            “I feel like it’s a self-explanatory statement.”

            “Okay, _why_ are we going to see Hinata?” I ventured, finally gaining my footing.

            “Because you’re going to do what you should have done months ago,” Sasuke said flatly.

            “Which is…?”

            The man actually dropkicked me mid-air.

            I caught myself on a rooftop.  “What the hell!”

            “No,” Sasuke said, landing next to me.

            “ _No_?” I questioned him incredulously.

            “No,” he said firmly.

            I looked into his eyes, and then I nodded.  No more acting like I didn’t know what was going on.  “Yeah.  Okay.  I don’t know why I’m being like this.”

            Sasuke’s expression softened.  “Because you’re scared,” he said, touching my cheek briefly before setting off again.

            I wanted to yell after him that I wasn’t scared of anything.

            But that would be a lie.

            It was all starting to click into place.

            “Sasuke!”

            He stopped, turning to look back at me.

            I couldn’t move.  I couldn’t even stand up.

            He came back, sitting down next to me on the roof.

            “I can’t do anything right,” I said quietly.

            “You’ve done a lot of things right,” he said, pressing his shoulder to mine.

            “I haven’t,” I whispered.  “I haven’t done a damn thing right my entire life, and all I do is hurt the people I love.”

            “Well that’s true, you have hurt everyone.”

            I turned to look at him.

            “You’re always so painfully honest, and yet you can’t be honest about the deepest parts of yourself,” he said, meeting my gaze steadily.  “You put up a wall to keep yourself safe, but it also keeps everyone out.”

            “Am I supposed to understand what you’re saying?”

            Sasuke rolled his eyes.  “No, that doesn’t seem like a very likely scenario.”

            I looked away.  “I don’t… mean to.  To do the thing that I do.  Or not do the thing.  You know?”

            “Unfortunately, I do.”

            “Understanding my gibberish is not unfortunate, jerk,” I growled at him.

            He shook his head, even as he was pressing the back of his hand to the back of mine.

            The touch was an anchor.  “I don’t know how to move forward.”

            “I’ll be with you.”

            “Do you promise?”

            “I promise,” he said, hand pressing more firmly to mine.

            I swallowed.  “So we have to go see Hinata now?”

            “And Boruto and Himawari.  And Sakura.  And Sarada.”

            “I don’t think I can.”

            “Pussy.”

            “Excuse me?!”

            “You are a pussy bitch,” he concluded, standing up abruptly.  “Let’s go.”

            I took the hand he offered me and stood up.

            Hinata was unhappy.

            “Of course I knew!” she snapped.  “What kind of woman doesn’t know when another man is in love with her husband?”

            “I, uh… is that a common situation?” I asked, scratching the back of my neck.

            The look she gave me was deadly.

            “Naruto didn’t know,” Sasuke said.

            “Wait, what?”  I said.  “What are we talking about here?”

            “The fact that the two of you were in love with each other throughout the entire course of our marriage,” Hinata said, crossing her arms over her chest.

            “Whaaaat?” I said.  “I didn’t know that I loved Sasuke until like a year ago when he kind of touched my di… lower regions.”

            Now they were both glaring at me.

            “ _That’s_ when you knew you were in love with me?” Sasuke growled.  “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

            “You _know_ ,” I said.  “That time.  At the bar.  And your hand.  On my leg.  But it wasn’t my leg.”

            Hinata and Sasuke were looking more and more like a unified, Naruto-hating front.

            “Well, when did you know?!” I shot back.

            “The Valley of the End,” Sasuke and Hinata both said flatly.

            I recoiled.  “How could you possibly know that?!” I demanded of Hinata.

            “The look in his eyes whenever he was around you after that,” she said.

            Sasuke actually looked uncomfortable.

            Hinata sat down on her couch.

            It used to be our couch.

            She patted the seat next to her.  “I think that things are about to get difficult, and we don’t need to be picking apart the past right now.”

            “I’ll leave you two to talk,” Sasuke said, disappearing as his last syllable lingered in the air.

            “I didn’t leave you for him,” I said, sitting next to her.

            “I know that,” she said.  “I believe you were actually the last to know.”  She gave me a fond smile that made me smile back.

            “You know I love you, and I love our kids,” I said, taking her hand.

            “I know.”

            “I didn’t mean for this to happen.  I don’t know how the media heard about us.  You should have heard it from me, and I’m sorry.”

            Hinata nodded, taking her hand back.  “Himawari is furious.”

            “I saw.”

            “She feels betrayed.”

            “I don’t know how to fix that.”

            “It’s going to take time.”

            “I suck at time.”

            “Yes, you do.”

            I shook my head.  “Did you talk to Boruto?”

            “He called me this morning.”

            I was dreading to hear what my son thought of all this.

            “He’s not happy, but he was calm about it.”

            “I’ll take that as a promising sign…”

            “Talk to them properly.  Before this turns into a media circus.”

            Sasuke fell into step with me as I headed towards the training grounds.

            I could see Boruto in the distance, sparring with Mitsuki and Sarada.  “Konohamaru,” I said, coming up beside him.

            He almost jumped out of his skin.  “Oh, u-u-uh, Hokage-sama, uh, hey there.”

            He was looking at me differently, and I tried not to shrink away.  “I need to talk to Boruto.”

            “And Sarada,” Sasuke cut in.

            “And Sarada?” I asked.

            “And Sarada.”

            I nodded.  “And Sarada.”

            “Okay, we’re just uh, training, so if… you know, you could uh-”

            “We’ll speak to them when they’ve finished this round,” Sasuke cut in.  He focused his eyes on the three figures fighting in front of us, clearly signaling to Konohamaru that no more conversation was necessary.

            I scratched my nose.

            Konohamaru joined Sasuke in staring straight ahead, so I did, too.

            It was actually interesting to watch my son spar with his team.  I mostly only saw him training with Sasuke, who was lightyears ahead of him in terms of technical skill and discipline.  Sometimes I forgot how talented Boruto really was.

            “I don’t know why you’re looking so proud, I’m the one who trains him,” Sasuke murmured.

            “Well it’s _my_ DNA!” I shot back.

            “I thought I was his teacher…” Konohamaru mumbled forlornly.

            “You’re a great teacher,” I said, patting him on the shoulder.

            He started from my touch.

            I schooled my face, but I knew some of the hurt must have leaked through.

            “It’s not…” he started to say.

            Boruto came flying our way.

            Sasuke just stepped aside like the smooth motherfucker he was, while Konohamaru and I were caught completely unaware and went spiraling into the trees.

            “I thought they’d dodge it…” Sarada murmured nervously.

            “If they were better, they would have,” Sasuke said reassuringly.

            “Hey!” Konohamaru and I protested.

            Somehow we got everything sorted out, and Konohamaru and Mitsuki went to train together while Sasuke and I took Boruto and Sarada aside.

            “So…” Boruto said after a long silence of all of us just staring at one another.

            “I’m in love with Sasuke,” I blurted out.  “And we’re in a relationship,” I added hastily.  “A romantic one.”

            My son, who barely classified as a legal adult, gave me the most patronizing look possible.  “Was that so hard?”

            I could feel the sweat dripping down my back and through the armpits of my shirt.  “Yes.”

            Sasuke let out a puff of air, barely audible, and I knew he was displeased.

            I tried to take his hand, but he brushed my attempts away.  I knew better.  Sasuke didn’t like to be so defenseless in public.  I rested my hand on his lower back instead, and he let me.  “I’m not embarrassed or ashamed or anything.  Don’t roll your eyes, bastard, I’m not.”

            Sasuke rolled his eyes some more.

            “I… I don’t know how to explain it.”

            “All you care about is what other people think of you,” Boruto said with a shrug.  “It’s not so difficult to understand.”

            I tried to refute it, but nothing came out.  Was that really who I’d become as a person?  Did I care so much about what people might say about me that I couldn’t just do the right thing?

            “I’m sorry,” I said instead.  “I should have told you sooner.”

            “You mean before you announced it to the whole world?”

            “I didn’t… Yes, okay, before I announced it to the whole world,” I said.

            “On national television,” Boruto added.

            “Is that really what I did?” I asked, rubbing the back of my neck.  “I was really tired, and there were all these lights in my eyes…”

            “Well, sir, you were in your underwear when you declared that you loved my father,” Sarada explained.  Her brow wrinkled.  “Though you also specified that you were roommates.  That part was a little confusing.”

            “I’m sorry, Sarada,” I said, focusing on her next.  “I know that Sasuke already told you, but I should have come and talked to you and your mom, too.”

            “You don’t need to apologize, Seventh,” she said, shaking her head.  “And it’s not like my father said anything more than, ‘Naruto and I are in a relationship,’” she said, doing a creepily accurate Sasuke impression.  “Then he didn’t say another word about it.”  Her eyes suddenly flicked nervously towards Sasuke.  “Uh, I mean, uh…”

            I also looked towards Sasuke.

            He stared at me defiantly.

            “ _That_ is all you said?!”

            “It’s more than what you said,” he muttered defensively.

            “Oh, god, I can picture it now,” I said, shaking my head.  “You’re so awful at human relations.”

            His lower lip stuck out in the tiniest bit of a pout.

            I could have just about melted.

            “You two are so gross,” Boruto muttered.

            Sarada elbowed him in the side roughly, making him grunt.  She looked to her father apologetically.  “Dad, I didn’t mean… um…  I was really happy when you told us.  Well not happy because I was worried about Mom, but I was… relieved?  That you told us!  I mean, it seems like we’ve all been communicating a lot better lately, and I feel like even if our family is split apart, we’re more of a family now than we’ve ever been before and-”

            “I understand,” Sasuke said with a nod.  He never was one for an emotional speech about feelings.

            Sarada nodded, too, and that seemed to be enough for the both of them.

            “You need to talk to Hima,” Boruto said to me.

            “I tried,” I said.

            “Yeah, well, she messaged me last night really angry and asking if I knew about you and Sasuke-sensei.”

            “Last night?” Sasuke repeated, his eyes narrowed.

            “Last night,” Boruto affirmed.

            It took me a while to catch on.

            My daughter liked to go to the bathhouse after a mission before heading home.  I waited for her to come out before falling into step with her.

            She pointedly ignored me.

            “I should have told you,” I said.  “I’m sorry.  I don’t know what you saw, but I didn’t want you to find out that way.”

            “You didn’t want me to see you sucking face with that Uchiha traitor?” she muttered.

            My gut clenched.  I wanted to correct her, but I kept my mouth shut instead.

            “And to think I just wanted some of your attention,” she said.  “I thought maybe you would spend some time with me like you spend so much time with Boruto.  So I went to the lake, and what did I see?  My homo father holding hands with his homo boyfriend.  And I thought, no, that can’t possibly be what I’m seeing.  I thought I had to be wrong.  But my eyes never lie,” she said, flashing the byakugan at me.  “I watched you in your house.  I saw you two…  It’s disgusting.”

            I thought my heart would break.  “Hima.  Please.  I…”

            “So I asked my stupid brother if he knew, and he said he just assumed, like it was the most natural thing in the world to assume that your father left your mother to shack up with some traitor in the woods.  He actually said that he was happy about it, that he liked you better when you were with Sas- with that stupid traitor.”

            “So you called the reporters?” I asked quietly.

            “So I called the reporters,” she said with a vicious grin that was usually reserved for when she was fighting with Boruto.

            “…thank you,” I said.

            She stopped in the middle of the road and turned to give me an incredulous look.

            “I’ve been a coward,” I said with a shrug.  “I needed a good kick in the rear to do what’s right.”

            “Do what’s right?!” she cried.

            “To do what’s honest,” I amended.  “To stop hiding away parts of myself from the people I love the most.”

            “Whatever,” she said, stomping off.

            I kept pace with her until she reached the house.

            The door was slammed in my face.

            I waited.

            Hinata opened the door for me.  “She’s locked herself in her room.”

            I rubbed my temple.  “I don’t know what to do.”

            “Be her father,” she said with a shrug.

            It was the worst feeling in the world to know I didn’t even know what that meant.

            Boruto and Sarada were both helping Sasuke make dinner when I got home.

            I ruffled Boruto’s hair, earning an eyeroll.  “Sarada, it’s nice to see you here.”

            “It’s nice to be here,” she said, smiling at me.  It reminded me of Sakura.

            It was nice, and I realized I like having our kids over, eating dinner with us like we were a…

            Family…

            “Himawari will forgive you eventually,” Boruto informed me as I washed the dishes.

            “She called the media and outed me to the world…”

            “She forgave you that time you sent a clone to her birthday party,” he said.  “Or the time you missed her graduation.  And even the time when you-”

            “Yeah, yeah, I’m a horrible father, I know.”

            “You’re not horrible.”

            I almost dropped the plate I was washing.  I set it down carefully and turned to look at him.

            “Hima just wants your attention, you know?” he said, picking up a towel and absently drying a spoon.  “She’s always the good one, always being her best for you, and you barely even see her sometimes.  Meanwhile I’m an asshole to you and you train with me and let me come to your house-”

            “She’s always welcome here.”

            “Sometimes people like to be invited.”

            “Just like how they like to be told that their father is dating someone?”

            “Yes, Dad, you’re finally catching on,” Boruto said with a grin.  “I feel like you’ve gotten dumber since you moved out.”

            “I’m still your father,” I said irritably.  “And I can still kick your ass in a fight.”

            “He’s not wrong,” Sasuke called from across the room where he was showing Sarada ancient Uchiha scrolls or some other kind of boring nonsense.  “Well, I mean, you’ve always been an idiot, but now that you’ve dropped that fake hokage know-it-all facade of yours, your son can finally see the real you.”

            “The hell, bastard?!” I cried, throwing down my dishwashing gloves.  “I don’t have a facade!  I’m not made of dirt!”

            Everyone stared at me blankly.

            “What does he think ‘facade’ means?” Sarada whispered frantically to Sasuke.

            “I have… no idea…” Sasuke whispered back, face serious until he suddenly broke into a laugh.

            “Laugh it up, like I’m the butt of every joke,” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at the three laughing jerks in my living room.

            “You are,” Sasuke said, looking so happy that I excused his horrible cruelty because have you ever seen Uchiha Sasuke smile?  Hot damn.

            “Don’t sulk,” he said, coming over to me and pinching my cheek.

            I sulked.

            “I like the stupid you,” he said, letting go.

            “Me, too,” Boruto agreed.

            Sarada looked between them, then bit her lip with a nervous smile.  “Me, too?”

            I looked at my mess of a life and I thought maybe there was still plenty of time to make things right.


End file.
